Customer Reviews

Pre-Algebra:

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is commonly used by grade schools as a transition for students to get acquainted with algebra topics and prepare for high school math courses. Sadly, this book is poorly laid out, skipping back and forth between topics like a ping pong ball, and often pampers the reader to an extent of which is clearly childish. Even grade school students who were polled often find the pictures both useless and distracting. The chapters of this book also waste space, while providing very little mathematical content. If you are reading this book, or thinking about getting this book for a school environment, you should seriously consider that this book in no way prepares students for high school math courses. Why 2 stars then? The overwhelming use of pictures and comics to portray mathematics may provide easier to understand concepts for children with learning disabilities; but is often distracting.

It is hard to imagine a worse math book, except maybe the earlier editions of this title.

This book demonstrates just about every bad teaching and typographic practice I know. Every page is splattered with colored text in a menagerie of fonts. Most pages feature irrelevant or misleading photos, perhaps several. There are dozens of distracting sidebars, many full of errors in fact. Just looking at a typical page, I feel my attention batted about in a pinball trajectory. Holding a thought for the length of a Glencoe page is quite a challenge.

Math skills are cumulative; each new technique is founded on the earlier one. I can't think of a case where this book seems to sustain an idea for more than a few pages. Some students, through chance or a teacher's skill, may manage to glean some mathematical fact from this book. It will do them little good, though. The book's complete lack of continuity gives no reward for that success, measured in skills used later in the course.

Students who can't squeeze understanding from this book - the ones it calls "alternative assessment" students - are very nearly abandoned, as far as any real education goes. Instead of being offered meaningful help, they are invited to draw pictures and write essays about their feelings. Such students are not only left in the dust, they are patronized and insulted in the process.

I have examined earlier editions of this book, back to 1997. The only thing I can say in favor of it is that, in preparing the 2001 edition, some of the worst errors and blatant commercialism were removed. It improved, but its basic flaws remain.

Do yourself and your math student a favor: find a different title. A little web searching will point you to sites that review and recommend better books, as well as more detailed analyses of this one. Or just pick another title at random - this is so bad that almost anything would be an improvement.

(based on the 2001 edition)

If your child needs a little help in math or if your child fell behind in school, this is the book for you. There are even online tests that the kids can take for free with the purchase of the book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0078885159/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img
This book is exactly what my grandson's school uses at school, only problem is he has to use his computer to do his homework. THIS BOOK IS PERFECT FOR HIM.

This book is in very excellent status and I received it before the delivery time. Actually the book is brand new and no writings on it and they put it in safe package. I remember I bought the same book off the shelve way back with $ 45. and guess the price of this one !. Thank you.

Text book has solid algebra fundamental materials. Each chapter explains the concepts with easy to understand examples. Perfect summer review for my son who will attend High School this Sept. Strongly recommend to also get the Study Guide Workbook.

Not much I need to say. The book was exactly as described. Was a good deal and was shipped next day and I got it faster than I expected. I very pleasant merchant to deal with.

Thanks for the great service.

Now my daughter doesn't have to lug her book home every night.

I had to prepare for some college placement exaims and needed a refresher course. This book was a trememdous help to me!

My son is in the 6th grade but he is studying 8th grade Mathematics. This book is used as a text book in his school (Rocky Hill Middle School, Clarksburg, Maryland). This is an excellent book for the 8th grade Math.

The book was in great shape for a reasonable price. Now my 6th grader and I are reviewing at home the math concepts taught at school. The fact that I found this book at the Amazon Marketplace has made this possible!